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'All In' for Respect

VIDEOS: BARGAINING ISSUES

United Teachers Los Angeles is part of a national movement to address a crisis we have been living with for too long: Public education is criminally underfunded. Like Oklahoma, Kentucky and West Virginia, LAUSD faces a tipping point. Decades of underfunding have left California 46 out of 50 in per-pupil funding. Locally, more than $550 million a year is siphoned from our public schools to fund an unregulated charter industry, which has grown more than 287% since 2008. Will the misplaced priorities at the local and state level shift in time to save our school district? UTLA’s contract demands aim to do just that.

Even with $1.7 billion reserves, LAUSD says it does not have the money to improve our schools to include lower class sizes, accountability for charter schools and a real reinvestment in school safety, vital staffing and educational programs. Since 2008, the cost of living in LA has increased 27% yet the district offers stagnant wages and healthcare.

We, the 33,000 members of UTLA, have been working without a contract for one year. We demand that our employer bargain on these key issues.The future of public education in Los Angeles depends on it.

All In For Respect Flyer (Spanish)

Our schools and classrooms are being squeezed by Prop. 39, a broken state law that allows charter schools to take over our classrooms, computer labs, parent centers, art and music rooms, known as co-location. Rampant charter industry expansion is starving our schools of much-needed funding. Our students deserve better. Our communities deserve better.

Charter schools, funded with taxpayer money, must be held to the same accountability standards as traditional public schools, including: Being subject to the Brown Act, Public Records Act, Political Reform Act, Educational Employment Relations Act, and Government Code 1090 (criminal liability for conflict of interest violations). LAUSD should require an Education & Economic Impact Report before approving the opening of a charter school. LAUSD should require parent representation on the board of directors before approving the opening of a charter school. LAUSD should collect the maximum reimbursement revenue allowed by state law from privately operated co-located charter schools that don’t pay rent.

School accountability: Require transparency by charter school operators on student suspensions/expulsions and “push outs” to traditional schools. Require a community and educational impact report and community meetings before a charter operator can “co-locate” on a public school campus.

UTLA Proposal

LAUSD’s Response

• Require an Education Impact Report and a Community Impact Report as part of the authorization process for new charter schools and the reauthorization of existing charter schools. Require district-authorized charter schools to provide annual data on student demographics, dismissals, and expulsions. Require district-authorized charter schools to provide annual data on available green space and compliance with local, state, and federal safety codes. Require district-authorized charter schools to provide monthly data on student enrollment
• Expand the formal role of chapter chairs and co-location coordinators in ensuring that co-locations don’t diminish the learning and working conditions at schools targeted for co-location
• Ensure timely notification and engagement by the district with school communities facing possible co-location

LAUSD continues to refuse to bargain on the impact o f charter co-location and the destruction of programs and services that neighborhood schools need to flourish and attract students

Salaries should be increased to a competitive level that attracts and retains high quality educators, and recognizes the growing shortage of TK-12 teachers, adult education teachers, early education teachers, and Health and Human Specialists. All professional development and training outside of the contractual workday should be compensated at a member’s hourly rate of pay.

UTLA Proposal

LAUSD’s Response

• Increase salaries by 6.5%, effective July 1, 2016
• Create NBCT cohorts at 100 high-need schools, jointly identified by UTLA & LAUSD, and require LAUSD to pay NBC exam fees for participating teachers who take the exam and stay at the school for at least two years.
• Maintain 15% differential for NBC teachers at all schools..

• Provide 2% ongoing, retroactive to
July 1, 2017
• Increase the monthly payback amount for overpaid employees from $200 per month to $300 per month
DROPPED: LAUSD backed off its demand to require members to automatically enroll in a 457(b) plan and (previously) that NBC teachers work in one of the 100 highest-need schools to qualify for a 15% differential

Allow classroom teachers to determine what, how, and when to use standardized assessments, other than those mandated by state or federal law, in their classroom; ensure that substitute coverage is provided to classroom teachers if or when they conduct state or federally mandated one-on-one assessments.

In a district with more than 200,000 English learners, the passage of Proposition 58 has created an urgent need to attract, recruit, and retain bilingual educators with increased and expanded salary differentials; students should have greater access to dual language programs; students should have greater access to an enriched curriculum, including ethnic studies, visual & performing arts, and career & technical education.

UTLA Proposal

LAUSD’s Response

• Provide teachers with complete discretion to determine when and/or what standardized assessments are used in their classrooms, beyond those required by the state or federal government
• Provide all teachers with the academic freedom to provide Ethnic Studies & Multicultural Literature instruction
• Require all secondary schools to provide Ethnic Studies & Multicultural Literature instruction no later than the 2018-2019 school year
• Require all elementary schools to provide Ethnic Studies & Multicultural Literature instruction, no later than the 2019-2020 school year
• Create a UTLA-LAUSD Ethnic Studies Task Force to provide ongoing support for Ethnic Studies & Multicultural Literature instruction

LAUSD has offered to create a UTLA-LAUSD Ethnic Studies Task Force—an anemic move toward providing relevant pedagogy to students in the most diverse city in the country

In a city with the highest level of child poverty in the United States, students should have greater access to Health and Human Services professionals such as school nurses, counselors, social workers, and librarians through increased staffing. Section 1.5 of the class size article should be eliminated from the contract so the district is no longer able to unilaterally violate negotiated class size averages and maximums; class size averages and maximums should be reduced for all grade levels.

UTLA Proposal

LAUSD’s Response

• Eliminate Section 1.5 from the contract, which allows the district to unilaterally increase class sizes
• Reduce time required to initiate grievance procedures for class size violations by the district
• Guarantee a secondary counselor ratio of 500-1 at every school site
• Require 1 teacher librarian at every secondary school
• Require 1 full-time nurse at every school
• Provide every school with a choice between a district office-funded dean, PSW, or Restorative Justice Advisor, to be determined by the Local School Leadership Council

LAUSD continues to protect Section 1.5 in the contract, which allows the district to ignore class-size protections and create unmanageable class sizes that stifle students’ ability to learn and educators’ ability to teach

* CA requires LAUSD to have a 1% reserve, yet the district is projecting 24% by the end of 2018.

As educators we see first-hand what our students need in our classrooms, our schools, our clinics, and our neighborhoods, and we deal with the issues that too often prevent those needs from being met.

Neighborhood public schools should be the anchors of our communities. We must work together as educators, parents, and community partners, to take on the issues of economic, social, and racial justice-all of which impact student learning and our ability to meet their holistic needs.

SPECIAL EDUCATION

Special education caseloads should be reduced, capped, and enforced; special education members should receive release time or other forms of support to complete mandated assessments and reports.

UTLA Proposal

LAUSD’s Response

• Reduce special education caseload caps
• Limit all SDC classes to 2 consecutive grade levels
• Prevent segregation of special education students from general education program
• Provide paid release time to special education educators to complete federally mandated assessments
• Create a mentor program and financial support for special education educators

LAUSD has yet to put forward any substantive proposals after nine months of bargaining, ignoring that special education teachers and students are in critical need of reduced caseloads and increased support

STUDENT RIGHTS & SUPPORT

End disruptive random searches of students that waste instructional time and do not make schools safer. Advocate for free rides on MTA buses and trains for all LAUSD students to ensure reliable transportation to school. Support efforts to end disproportionate ticketing of African American transit riders.

UTLA Proposal

LAUSD’s Response

• Cease the use of “random” metal detector searches of students or “random” locker searches, and rescind LAUSD Bulletin 5424.2
• Approval by the BOE of a resolution supporting and calling for formal advocacy of fare-free ridership on all MTA buses and trains for LAUSD students
• Public support by the BOE for an end to the disproportionate number of citations, fines, and “stop & frisks” involving black transit riders

LAUSD continues to refuse to bargain

COMMUNITY SCHOOLS

Designate 20 schools in high-need areas for Community Schools transformation. Community Schools are fully funded sites with a well-rounded curriculum, wraparound support services, positive discipline practices, and transformational parent and community engagement.

UTLA Proposal

LAUSD’s Response

• Designate 20 schools in high-need areas for Community Schools transformation
• Allocate $5 million for the 20 designated high-need schools for the 2018-2019 school year and $10 million each for 2019-20 and 2020-21
• Analyze Community Schools transformation process for expansion to more schools

LAUSD continues to refuse to bargain

REVENUE

Revenue for public education: When our students see an investment in public schools, they see an investment in themselves, but with California ranking 46th in the United States in per pupil funding, and when we are spending three times the amount per prisoner that we spend on students, what are we teaching them?

UTLA Proposal

LAUSD’s Response

• Approval by the BOE of a resolution supporting and calling for formal advocacy of 20 by 20.

LAUSD continues to refuse to bargain

EARLY EDUCATION

Give more children the educational start they deserve by expanding the number of seats available for early education in LAUSD.

UTLA Proposal

LAUSD’s Response

• Ensure that chapter chairs are assigned to early shift schedules to allow for attending UTLA meetings
• Move early education teachers with a BA and Elementary or Early Education Credential to the Preparation Salary T Table for salary
• Provide paid release for student teaching to early education teachers pursuing an Elementary or Early Education Credential
• Provide 8-hour workday for early education teachers, inclusive of a 30-minute duty-free lunch
• Create an Early Education Task Force with community members to explore paths for expanding LAUSD early education programs

LAUSD refuses to guarantee an early shift for early ed chapter chairs, diminishing their ability to be represented at UTLA meetings. Refused proposal to put early ed on the T salary schedule and give them an equitable workday, with lunch break
• Create an Early Education Task Force with community members to explore paths for expanding LAUSD early education programs

Shared Decision Making.Increase purview of Local School Leadership Councils to include control over site based LCFF funds, course electives and program options, staff professional development, and implementation of local, state, and federal initiatives such as Breakfast in the Classroom & mandated assessments.

UTLA Proposal

LAUSD’s Response

• Empower Local School Leadership Councils with complete authority over all school-based funding, professional development, implementation of state and federal programs, and course electives and program options

LAUSD continues to reject UTLA proposals and deny an expanded voice for parents and educators in our schools

Support for immigrant families: Create $1 million Immigrant Family Legal Defense Fund to support families of LAUSD students who are fighting deportation.

UTLA Proposal

LAUSD’s Response

• Create a $1 million Immigrant Family Defense Fund to support the families of students
• Provide training to all employees on district protocols for interaction with ICE
• Develop community partnerships to place immigrant support clinics at schools

LAUSD continues to refuse to bargain

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Affordable housing and student homelessness: Provide new supports for homeless youth and students’ families facing eviction by training school counselors on resources and holding tenant rights clinics at schools. Identify surplus LAUSD land that could be used for affordable housing.

UTLA Proposal

LAUSD’s Response

• Require the district to develop a plan to remove all unused bungalows from our schools, no later than December 31, 2019
• Require the district to develop a plan to provide adequate green space at all schools by December 31, 2019

• Require the district to develop a plan to remove all unused bungalows from our schools, no later than December 31, 2019
• Require the district to develop a plan to provide adequate green space at all schools by December 31, 2019

LAUSD continues to refuse to bargain

Get Involved!

May 24th - RESPECT RALLY

On May 24th we continue the fight with the Respect Rally. The future of public education in LA is uncertain. The district must decide during this contract campaign if they are on the side of parents, students and educators, or if they will join the ranks of those who want to close public schools, fire educators and destroy public education. We have been working without a contract for almost one year, and even with a $1.7 billion projected reserve, LAUSD refuses to bargain key issues.

May 23, 2018

UTLA’s “All In for Respect” rally and major demonstration is the culmination of one year of escalating actions around UTLA’s contract demands. If no agreement is reached, strike authorization votes are expected to take place in the Fall.

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Statement

May 9, 2018

It's now time for LAUSD to address our contract bargaining demands. After more than one year of escalating actions tied to their bargaining demands — including UTLA’s commitment to a May 15 Unfair Labor Practice sympathy strike — SEIU Local 99 reached a Tentative Agreement with LAUSD yesterday.